ABOUT CARLOS

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.

Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.

2017 & 2018 SPAH (U.S.A. Society for the Preservation & Advancement of the Harmonica) Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of The Year Award nomination

Harmonica Player of the Year - winner EIGHT times
Canadian Maple Blues Awards (& an additional eight times nominated)

2016 Maple Leaf Blues Nomination for Best Acoustic Duo (with Jimmy Bowskill for Blues Etc...)

2010 JUNO NOMINATION for STEADY MOVIN' cd
(JUNO is Canada’s equivalent of a Grammy)

2005 "Best Blues" Award - NOW Magazine, Toronto, ON

1998 JUNO NOMINATION for BIG BOY cd

1996 Blues Musician of the Year Award - Jazz Report Magazine

1993 Hohner World Harmonica Championship, Trossingen, Germany -
Two Gold Medals in both diatonic blues and diatonic jazz

It's probably a good thing Carlos wasn't there when the harmonica appeared in North America in the 1860s. Neil Young and Bob Dylan can probably roll with it when he says they are very mediocre harmonica players. Aspiring harmonica players Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid might have overreacted and pulled out their pistols...

To say that Carlos is just a harmonica player is like saying Jimi Hendrix was just a guitar player. He blows the blues harp through a prism -- suddenly it seems he's holding every color in the musical rainbow right there in his hands.

Simultaneously sophisticated and raw, his playing blurs the boundaries between blues and jazz (hence the name for his band “The Blues Mongrels”). The emphasis is on blues, but Carlos and his band are not afraid to merrily traipse off in other directions delivering a seamless fusion of New Orleans second line grooves, swing, Latin, ska melodies, to swampy roots rock.

Born in Havana, Cuba, del Junco (loosely translated "of the reeds") immigrated with his family at the age of one. He bent his first note on a harmonica when he was fourteen, making his debut with his high school math teacher at a student talent night. In his early 20's del Junco was immersed in a visual arts career; he graduated with honours from a four year programme, majoring in sculpture (click here to see photos) at the Ontario College of Art. Sculpture has definitely had an influence on his outlook on music: "Music is just a different way of creating textures and shapes."

Playing a ten hole diatonic harmonica, Carlos has developed the unique ability to play chromatically by using a recently developed "overblow" technique taught to him by jazz virtuoso Howard Levy. Overall, this approach to the diatonic harmonica, although much more difficult to achieve, is in many ways more expressive and communicative than the mechanized tone produced by the chromatic harmonica . Carlos is one of the few pioneers of this overblow method, bringing musical credibility to what has still been considered by many in the music industry - a fringe folk instrument. The sophisticated sound produced by del Junco is both soulful and sensitive while never forgetting the rawness inherent in blues music.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS BY YEAR:

1991:

Composed and toured Tomson Highway's Dora Award winning play Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing

1993:

Won two gold medals (in the diatonic blues category and the diatonic jazz category) at the Hohner World Harmonica Championships in Germany
"BLUES", Carlos' first CD, delta blues with the late guitar player and singer Bill Kinnear
CBC taped a 2-part special on Performance with a live segment and interview with Carlos and Bill

1995:

Just Your Fool CD, an electric band live setting that won del Junco Jazz Report's 1996 Blues Musician of the Year Award
Big Road Blues CD, acoustic blues from the delta with guitar player and singer Thom Roberts ~ Receiving a Canada Council grant, del Junco studied privately in Chicago for two months with Howard Levy

1996:

Live taping on Bravo T.V. Blues at Cafe Campus, 70-minute special featuring the electric band and interview with Carlos

1998:

Received Toronto Blues Society's Maple Leaf Blues Award for 1997 Harmonica Player of the Year
Release of Big Boy CD

1999:

Big Boy nominated for a Juno Award in "Best Blues Album" category
Received Toronto Blues Society's Maple Leaf Blues Award for 1998 Harmonica Player of the Year

2000:

Nominated for Toronto Blues Society’s Maple Leaf Blues Award for 1999 Harmonica Player of the Year
Perform concert and workshop at Harmonica Summit 2000 in Minneapolis, Minnesota (other performers were Toots Thielemans and Howard Levy)

2001:

Received Toronto Blues Society’s Maple Leaf Blues Award for 2000 Harmonica Player of the Year
Spring release of new full band CD -Up And At 'Em featuring Kevin Breit with guest appearance by Jane Siberry

2002:

Nominated Toronto Blues Society’s Maple Leaf Blues Award for 2001 Harmonica Player of the Year
Played as an invited guest for a week of dates with Mark Hummel's annual Harmonica Blowoff in California, US

2003:

Perform opening set for Ray Charles at The Humming Bird Centre for Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival to a standing ovation
Teach harmonica masterclass and perform in West Virginia and Germany

2004:

Winner Toronto Blues Society’s Maple Leaf Blues Award for 2003 Harmonica Player of the Year

2005:

Release of new band CD Blues Mongrel featuring Kevin Breit
Winner Toronto Blues Society’s Maple Leaf Blues Award for 2004 Harmonica Player of the Year (5 out of 8 years of awards)
Voted "Best Blues" in NOW magazine, Toronto, ON

2006:

Winner Toronto Blues Society’s Maple Leaf Blues Award for 2005 Harmonica Player of the Year

2007:

Winner Toronto Blues Society’s Maple Leaf Blues Award for 2006 Harmonica Player of the Year

2008:

Release of band CD "Steady Movin'" featuring Kevin Breit
Nominated for Toronto Blues Society’s Maple Leaf Blues Award for 2007 Harmonica Player of the Year

2009:

Nominated for Toronto Blues Society’s Maple Leaf Blues Award for 2008 Harmonica Player of the Year

2010:

CBC "Inside The Music" radio interview and feature with Carlos and Howard Levy

2011:

Release of CD Mongrel Mash featuring Kevin Breit

2016:

Release of CD BLUES ETC... with Jimmy Bowskill
Launch of new teaching web site harmonicapractice.com

2017:

Nominated for the SPAH (U.S.A. Society for the Preservation & Advancement of the Harmonica) Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of The Year Award nomination

2018:

Nominated for the SPAH (U.S.A. Society for the Preservation & Advancement of the Harmonica) Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of The Year Award nomination
Release of Blues Mongrels semi acoustic format trio CD "Hang On"